104 replies to this topic

[Idasho]

Ive had a couple of requests to post some info and pics for this build.

So here we go....

This WILL be picture heavy, so for those on dialup, you should have probably sprung for high-speed No sympathy for you here!


As it seems, the very clean '84 GL I picked Nov of 2010 has some motor problems. Nothing really terminal, but things I simply will not put up with. I purchased the car with "recent motor work"

Yeah.... we all know how that normally ends up

So I picked up a used hydro-ea81, and have been slowly working on rebuilding it. The motor that is in the car right now is fine for around town, but I simply do not trust it for long trips.

So here we go....

I purchased the motor from a forum member back in MA. Together we were able to make it work $$ wise, and he actually stripped the motor down far enough to ship it UPS ground. I had it shipped to my work...

This is the day it showed up, and I brought it home for the preliminary inspection and tear-down.

Please excuse the crappy cell phone pics...

[Idasho]

From there it gets a little fuzzy for a bit.

I started tearing it apart, and just didnt quite......

So I failed to get many tear-down photos...

But here we go, regardless...

Main bearings


Cam and hydro lifters


Crank with rods


Pistons, pins and clips


Oil rings were a bit crudded up, compression rings looked great.


And the empty block ready to go to the machine shop for a cleaning and light hone.

[Idasho]

Then I tore the crank apart


And inspected the rod bearings. Remarkable shape for the mileage. This motor is said to have 180k miles.


Case halves back from the machine shop!


Cylinders look pretty good. A couple of light scrapes, but nothing bad enough to worry about.


Waiting for parts....

[Idasho]

The only appreciable wear I could find on the bottom end was a pretty bad groove worn into the flywheel flange of the crank.

I repaired it with a speedi-sleeve










A word of caution.....


:Flame:SLEEVES ARE VEEEEERRRYYYY SHARP!!

I cut the ************ out of my thumb tearing the sleeve flange off.

Anyways....

[Idasho]

Waiting for parts, I kept myself busy by doing things like...

Stripping the valve covers and pan, and repainting them!





The valve covers are color matched to the OEM air cleaner.

[Idasho]

So the heads are done... finally.

I dropped them off at the machine shop weeks ago, and today they finally called to say they were done.

I nearly left them there for what they charged me...

Oh well, at least they did a damn good job, and didnt cut any corners. But they did take ip upon themselves to repair 6 or 7 threads with inserts, as well as install a repair insert into one of the spark plug holes. I didnt think they were bad at all, but whatever....

I have them decked .015, and they were given a nice 3 angle grind, and a good cleaning. They look like new






No cracks!




Then I started to prep to throw the bottom end back together by doing a close inspection of the case.

Lots of case half photos ahead....









......

[Idasho]

and thats all for case half pics

[Idasho]

Time to toss the bottom end back together...

connecting rods get new bearings




Connecting rod ends get foam sleeves to protect the cylinder walls.


New main bearings


Crank and cam installed!

[Idasho]

Then it was time to mate the case halves.

I could not find any loctite 518 locally, but I did find its equiv. in permatex

51817



A bead was laid, then using the finger dabbing method, the gasket was laid out.


Then the case went together! I was even lucky enough to get the timing lined up. Hard to see, but the dot on the CAM is seen within that hold on the crank.


Waiting for pistons (rings) now...

[themoneypit]

nice work!! but wouldnt it have been much cheaper to ej it?

[987687]

Wow, that's looking really nice!

I have a few questions/curiosities. Is it easy to get the cam gear off to pull the cam without splitting the case?

Also, did you not use any assembly lube on the crank or cam bearings

[Idasho]

nice work!! but wouldnt it have been much cheaper to ej it?

Doing a complete rebuild on an EJ is no cheaper than an EA. Then factory all of the work involved in doing such a swap...

While an EJ swap would be great, it is simply isnt what I want. I like these little ea81s

[Idasho]

Wow, that's looking really nice!

I have a few questions/curiosities. Is it easy to get the cam gear off to pull the cam without splitting the case?

Also, did you not use any assembly lube on the crank or cam bearings

I have never pulled the cam gear off, so I do not know.

A heavy (20w50) synthetic motor oil was used for assembly of all bearing surfaces.

Edited by Idasho, 09 April 2012 - 07:41 PM.

[987687]

I have never fulled the cam gear off, so I do not know.

A heavy (20w50) synthetic motor oil was used for assembly of all bearing surfaces.

Ah, I didn't see anything on the bearings.

I never doubted that it can be better to rebuild the ea81. It has plenty of power for putting around.
Although I'd probably throw a torque cam on it to bump the power a bit. That's what I want to do with my car. I like the sheer simplicity of the ea81.

[Idasho]

This is Idaho.

This car does more than "put around"

Most of the speed limits around here are 55. Its right at home.


Though it has taken us to Seattle and Portland numerous times without problems. You just cannot be in a hurry. It does the speed limit wherever we go, and gets near 30mpg doing it.

[Idasho]

The next step I fought with a bit.

I knew I wanted this motor to look good. Despite hours of hand cleaning, and a trip to the machine shop, the case still didnt look as good as I desired.

So I painted it.

Starting with a metal etching aluminum primer...



Flywheel housing was done too.


Then finished it with an aluminum colored epoxy based engine enamel

So what if it holds a bit of heat....


It sure the hell looks better:drunk:




And more parts came in.

Brand new oil pump, and reman water pump. The WP pulley was primed and painted as well. Little BRONZE action here

[kona]

very cool thread. thanks from me and the other armchair mechanics out there...

[Idasho]

Your welcome!

I figured a few would enjoy all of the photos.

[Tatarusbrute]

Hey Idasho, Are you in Moscow? I feel like I have seen your rig around town... At MBS, and I was jealous at how clean it is.

[O.C.D.]

Great pics, thanks.

[Idasho]

Hey Idasho, Are you in Moscow? I feel like I have seen your rig around town... At MBS, and I was jealous at how clean it is.

Thats me

I run receiving at MBS

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

Beautiful Engine Rebuilt, Very Clean and Well Done, because you put the Magical ingredient there: Love!

That EA81 will Last Forever with your Care...

Kind Regards.

[TheLoyale]

This looks really good! Keep it up!!!

[Mechanical_misfit]

your work space is cleaner than my kitchen! Great job, I can't wait to hear how she runs when its all said and done!

[Idasho]

Well, it looks like the piston rings are being slow.

More than a week, and they still havnt shipped.


So I benched the motor build, and drug out the 5-speed dual range trans I picked up a while back.

There was quite the story surrounding this trans. According to the previous owner, he had a Subaru that a shop spent MONTHS chasing down a driveline "noise"

It sounds like the typical throw-money-at-the-problem-till-it-goes-away methodology.

Long story short, they rebuilt this trans, and the noise was still there. Then they replaced the trans, and the noise was still there

it wound up being something silly like a u-joint:drunk:

So, according to the previous owner, this trans had been apart and completely rebuilt. There is evidence looking at the bolts and case that it HAS been apart.

But naturally, I doubt people. The average joe will spin all kinds of tales to sell something. So I didnt know what to expect when I finally got around to doing something with it.

Today was the first day I had touched it since buying it. If I recall correctly, I spent $50 on it.

And I was VERY pleasantly surprised when I cracked the transfercase cover off, to find not only fresh clean gear oil, but also what looks like remnants of trans assembly lube.

So this trans will get a very good cleaning, fresh axle seals, and away we go....